Pikolinos Wellfeet 00K-5672 SKU: #7902913

Brian M

I really wanted to like these shoes. They were supposed to replace 5 years of Ecco Flexors, which were sadly discontinued a few years ago. Those were as comfortable as expensive sneakers, durable, nice enough for a casual workplace, and rugged enough for snowy sidewalks or a trail in the woods. They were so great I bought 5 pairs. Now I've finally run out. These Pikolinos are almost the same color and seemed stylish enough for most occasions. And even better than the Flexors, they offer a leather insole, which is a big plus. (Note: despite the description of the shoe above, other than the insole, the inner lining is fabric, not leather.) Leather interiors last much longer, and are much easier to keep clean. I hoped I'd like these as much as the Flexors, and if they were comfortable, I was ready to buy spares. My feet are wide, so shoes that don't come in widths are often too narrow. These don't come in widths, but they're European. European shoes (such as Eccos and Borns) always seem to offer more room in the toe box than American sizes, so I hoped the standard width would be okay. Judging from the shape of the sole, they didn't seem narrow. And I tried some other Pikolinos that fit okay, so I gave these a chance. The other Pikolinos I tried were the Seattle. The soles on those were too hard and inflexible. I hoped these would be more comfortable. unfortunately, just as with the Seattles, my feet started hurting almost immediately. The insole offers more padding than the one that comes with the Seattle, but there still is not enough cushion under the feet. And just like the Seattles, cushioning is not the only problem. The rubber soles are too rigid, and don't bend easily. Just look at them -- they're slabs of hard plastic. I realize now my feet were hurting not just for lack of padding, but perhaps even more so because the shoes don't bend as they should and put too much pressure on the wrong parts of my foot. Not only did the Flexors provide much better shock absorption, the soles were much more flexible, and in the right places. The sole used a rigid rubber like that of the Pikolinos, but only in a thin layer where the shoe meets the ground. That was complemented by a much softer rubber under the foot, which provided great cushion and flexibility. The sole of the Pikolinos is made of a hard rubber throughout. Because of this, these Pikolinos are not comfortable, not flexible, and they even make a "clump" noise with every step. These are marketed as comfortable walking shoes. They really aren't. Another strange problem with these shoes: the laces are too short. No matter how you lace them there is not enough left over to tie a double knot. I managed to tie a double knot finally, but it wasn't easy and it looked kind of ridiculous. This is an unfortunate oversight, considering how nice it looks to have laces that perfectly match the color of the shoes. I notice the newer model of these shoes has fewer eyelets -- I'll bet the laces in those shoes will work fine. I was ready to buy spares If I liked them. Instead I'm still looking.

Brands I'd also recommend: Ecco, Born, Merrell